Composers and their stage works 


Samuel (Barclay) Beckett

(1906 - 1989)

Irish-French poet, critic, novelist and dramatist. Born Foxrock, near Dublin April 13, 1906. Educated at Portora Royal School Enniskillen and at Trinity College, Dublin specialising in French and Italian and from where he graduated with a BA degree. He died December 22, 1989

Since Beckett was equally fluent in French and English and acted as his own translator (unless otherwise noted), the first title in each listing below is the one under which the play first appeared.

 

Stage Works

  1. Le Kid, with Georges Pelorson (produced 1931).
  2. Eleutheria. Play, 3 acts. Written ca. 1946/48.
  3. En Attendant Godot (produced 1953). 1952; translated by Beckett as Waiting for Godot: Tragicomedy (produced 1955)
  4. Fin de partie (produced in French, 1957). translated by Beckett as Endgame (produced 1958)
  5. Acte sans paroles, with music by John Beckett (produced in French, 1957). translated by Beckett as Act Without Words,1958.
  6. All That Fall, from the radio play (broadcast 1957; produced 1965). 1957. Produced London, BBC Radio 3, Jan. 13, 1957; Paris, Radiodiffusion Française, Jan. 26, 1963. French translation: Robert Pinget.
  7. From an Abandoned Work. 1958.
  8. Krapp's Last Tape (produced 1958).
  9. Embers Radio play. Published 1958. Produced London, BBC Radio 3, June 24, 1959. French translation: Beckett and Pinget.
  10. Act Without Words II (produced 1960).
  11. The Old Tune, from Robert Pinget's La Manivelle (broadcast 1960).
  12. Happy Days (produced 1961). 1961; translated by Beckett as Oh Les Beaux Jours (produced 1963).
  13. Words and Music (broadcast 1962). Radio play. Published 1962. Produced London, BBC Third Programme, Nov. 13, 1962. Music: John Beckett.
  14. Play (in German, as Spiel, produced 1963; as Play, 1964).
  15. Cascando, music by Marcel Mihalovici (broadcast in French, 1963; in English, 1964).
  16. Film (screenplay 1965).
  17. Va-et-vient: Dramaticule (in German as Kommen und Gehen, produced 1966; as Va-et-vient, produced 1966). 1966; translated by Beckett as Come and Go: Dramaticule (produced 1968), 1967.
  18. Eh Joe (broadcast 1966; produced 1978).
  19. Breath (produced as part of Kenneth Tynan's Oh! Calcutta!, 1969.
  20. Not I (produced 1972). 1973.
  21. Fragment de Théâtre. 1974. Translated by Beckett as Theatre I and II, 1976.
  22. That Time (produced 1976). 1976.
  23. Footfalls (produced 1976). 1976.
  24. Ghost Trio Published 1975. (broadcast 1977).
  25. . . . but the clouds . . . Published 1976. (broadcast 1977).
  26. Rough For Radio I. As Sketch for a Radio Play, i
  27. Rough for Radio II (broadcast as Rough for Radio, 1976).
  28. A Piece of Monologue (produced 1980).
  29. Rockaby (produced 1981).
  30. Ohio Impromptu (produced 1981).
  31. Catastrophe (produced 1982).
  32. Nacht and Traüme (broadcast 1982).
  33. Quad (broadcast as Quadrat 1 +2, 1982).
  34. What Where (in German, as Was Wo, produced 1983; as What Where, produced 1983).
SCREENPLAY:

Film, 1965.

RADIO PLAYS:
  1. All That Fall, 1957;
  2. Embers, 1959;
  3. The Old Tune, from Robert Pinget's La Manivelle, 1960;
  4. Words and Music, 1962; Cascando, music by Marcel Mihalovici, in French, 1963, in English, 1964;
  5. Rough for Radio, 1976.
TELEVISION PLAYS:
  1. Eh Joe, 1966; Not I, from the stage play 1977;
  2. Ghost Trio, 1977;
  3. . . . but the clouds . . ., 1977;
  4. Quad, as Quadrat 1 +2, 1982;
  5. Nacht and Traüme, 1982.
NOVELS
  1. Murphy. 1938.
  2. Molloy. 1951; translated by Beckett and Patrick Bowles, 1955.
  3. Malone meurt. 1951; translated by Beckett as Malone Dies, 1956.
  4. L'Innommable.1953; translated by Beckett as The Unnameable, 1958.
  5. Watt (written in English). 1953.
  6. Molloy; Malone Dies; The Unnameable. 1960.
  7. Comment c'est. 1961; translated by Beckett as How It Is, 1964.
  8. Mercier et Camier. 1970; translated by Beckett as Mercier and Camier, 1974.
SHORT STORIES AND TEXTS
  1. More Pricks than Kicks. 1934.
  2. Nouvelles et Textes pour rien. 1955; translated by Beckett and Richard Seaver as Stories and Texts for Nothing, 1967.
  3. From an Abandoned Work. 1958.
  4. Imagination morte imaginez. 1965; translated by Beckett as Imagination Dead Imagine, 1965.
  5. Assez. 1966; translated by Beckett as Enough, in No's Knife, 1967.
  6. Bing. 1966; translated by Beckett as Ping, in No's Knife, 1967.
  7. Têtes-Mortes (includes D'Un Ouvrage Abandonné; Assez, Bing, Imagination morte imaginez). 1967; translated by Beckett in No's Knife, 1967.
  8. No's Knife: Collected Shorter Prose 1945-1966 (includes Stories and Texts for Nothing; From an Abandoned Work; Enough; Imagination Dead Imagine; Ping). 1967.
  9. L'Issue. 1968.
  10. Sans. 1969; translated by Beckett as Lessness, 1971.
  11. Séjour. 1970.
  12. Premier Amour. 1970; translated by Beckett as First Love, 1973.
  13. Le Dépeupleur. 1971; translated by Beckett as The Lost Ones, 1972.
  14. The North. 1972.
  15. Abandonné. 1972.
  16. Au loin un oiseau. 1973.
  17. First Love and Other Shorts. 1974.
  18. Fizzles. 1976.
  19. For to End Yet Again and Other Fizzles. 1976.
  20. All Strange Away. 1976.
  21. Four Novellas (First Love; The Expelled; The Calmative; The End). 1977; as The Expelled and Other Novellas, 1980.
  22. Six Residua. 1978.
  23. Company. 1980.
  24. Mal vu mal dit. 1981; translated by Beckett as Ill Seen Ill Said, 1982.
  25. Worstward Ho. 1983.
  26. Stirrings Still. 1988.
  27. Nohow On (includes Company; Ill Seen Ill Said; Worstward Ho). 1989.
VERSE
  1. Whoroscope. 1930.
  2. Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates. 1935
  3. Gedichte (collected poems in English and French, with German translations). 1959.
  4. Poems in English. 1961.
  5. Poèmes. 1968.
  6. Collected Poems in English and French. 1977; revised edition, as Collected Poems 1930-1978, 1984.
  7. Mirlitonnades. 1978.
OTHER
  1. "Dante . . . Bruno. Vico .. . Joyce," in Our Exagmination round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress. 1929.
  2. Proust. 1931; with Three Dialogues with Georges Duthuit, 1965.
  3. Three Dialogues with Georges Duthuit. In Transition 48, 1949; in book form, with Proust, 1965.
  4. Bram van Velde, with Georges Duthuit and Jacques Putman. 1958; translated by Beckett and Olive Classe, 1960.
  5. A Beckett Reader. 1967
  6. I Can't Go On: A Selection from the Work of Beckett, edited by Richard Seacver. 1976.
  7. Disjecta: Miscellaneous Writings and a Dramatic Fragment, edited by Ruby Cohn. 1983.
  8. Collected Shorter Prose 1945-1980. 1984.
  9. Happy Days: The Production Notebook, edited by James Knowlson, 1985.
  10. As the Story Was Told: Uncollected and Late Prose. 1990.
  11. Translator, Negro: An Anthology, compiled by Nancy Cunard. 1934.
  12. Translator, Seven Poems by Paul Eluard. In Thorns of Thunder, 1936.
  13. Translator, Anthology of Mexican Poetry, edited by Octavio Paz. 1958.
  14. Translator, with others, Selected Poems, by Alain Bosquet. 1963.
  15. Translator, Zone, by Guillaume Apollinaire. 1972.
  16. Translator, Drunken Boat, by Arthur Rimbaud, edited by James Knowlson and Felix Leakey. 1977.
  17. Translator, with others, No Matter No Fact. 1988.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
  1. Samuel Beckett: His Works and His Critics: An Essay in Bibliography, by Raymond Federman and John Fletcher, 1970;
  2. Samuel Beckett: Checklist and Index of His Published Works 1967-1976 by Robin John Davis, 1979;
  3. Samuel Beckett: A Reference Guide by Cathleen Culotta Andonian 1988.
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS:

University of Texas, Austin; Ohio State University, Columbus; Washington University, St. Louis; Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; Reading University, England.

CRITICAL STUDIES (selection):
  1. H. Delye, Samuel Beckett, ou La philosophie de 1'absurde, Aix, 1960;
  2. Samuel Beckett: The Comic Gamut by Ruby Cohn, 1962;
  3. R. Coe, Samuel Beckett, New York, Edinburgh, 1964;
  4. W. Y. Tindall, Samuel Beckett, New York, 1964;
  5. J. Jacobsen and W. R. Mueller, The Testament of Samuel Beckett: A Study, New York, 1964, London, 1966;
  6. Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. by M. Esslin, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1965;
  7. N. A. Scott, Samuel Beckett, London and New York, 1965;
  8. J. Ludovic, Pour Samuel Beckett, Paris, 1966;
  9. P. Melese, Beckett, Paris, 1966;
  10. Beckett at Sixty: A Festschrift, ed. by J. Calder, London, 1967;
  11. Samuel Beckett by Ronald Hayman, 1968; revised edition, 1980;
  12. I. H. Hassan, The Literature of Silence: Henry Miller and Samuel Beckett, New York, 1968;
  13. B. G. Chevigny; 20th Century Interpretations of Endgame, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1969;
  14. Samuel Beckett Now: Critical Approaches to His Novels, Poetry, and Plays edited by Melvin J. Friedman, 1970;
  15. R. Federman and J. Fletcher, Samuel Beckett: His Works and His Critics, An Essay in Bibliography, Berkeley, 1970;
  16. L. Harvey, Samuel Beckett: Poet and Critic, Princeton, 1970;
  17. G. Croussy, Beckett, Paris, 1971;
  18. D. Hesla, The Shape of Chaos, Minneapolis, 1971;
  19. D. Hayman, ed., Beckett issue, James Joyce Quarterly, 1971;
  20. C. Duckworth, Angles of Darkness, London, 1972;
  21. Beckett: A Study of His Plays by John Fletcher and John Spurling, 1972, revised as Beckett the Playwright, 1985;
  22. H. Kenner, A Reader's Guide to Samuel Beckett, New York, 1973;
  23. R. Toscan, "MacGowan on Beckett," Theatre Quarterly,July-September,1973;
  24. Back to Beckett by Ruby Cohn, 1974;
  25. Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Criticism edited by Ruby Cohn, 1975;
  26. H. C. Copeland, Art and the Artist in the Works of Samuel Beckett, The Hague-Paris, 1975;
  27. J. Eliopoulos, Samuel Beckett's Dramatic Language, The Hague-Paris, 1975;
  28. B. Rojtman, Forme et signification dans le théâtre de Beckett, Paris, 1976;
  29. D. Bair, Samuel Beckett, New York, 1977;
  30. A Student's Guide to the Plays of Samuel Beckett by Beryl S. Fletcher, 1978, revised edition, with John Fletcher, 1985;
  31. R. L. Admussen, The Samuel Beckett Manuscripts, Boston, 1979;
  32. Just Play: Beckett's Theatre by Ruby Cohn, 1980;
  33. B. States, The Shape of Paradox, Berkeley, 1980;
  34. H. Baldwin, Samuel Beckett's Real Silence, College Park, Pa., 1981.
  35. Samuel Beckett: Modern Critical Views edited by Harold Bloom, 1985; Beckett on File, edited by Virginia Cooke, 1985;
  36. Samuel Beckett by Linda Ben-Zvi, 1986;
  37. Understanding Beckett: A Study of Monologue and Gesture in the Works of Beckett by Peter Gidal, 1986;
  38. Myth and Ritual in the Plays of Beckett by Katherine H. Burkman, 1988;
  39. Theatre of Shadows: Beckett's Drama 1956-1976 by Rosemary Pountney, 1988;
  40. The Humour of Samuel Beckett by Valerie Topsfield, 1988;
  41. Beckett in Performance by Jonathan Kalb, 1989;
  42. Beckett by Andrew K. Kennedy, 1989;
  43. Understanding Samuel Beckett by Alan Astro, 1990;
  44. Women in Beckett: Performance and Critical Perspectives by Linda Ben-Zvi, 1990.